Le Collier D'Or
by Kate P
Summary: Strange things happen on the Ponderosa after the Cartwrights find an old necklace.


THIS STORY IS WRITTEN FOR PLEASURE NOT PROFIT AND IS NOT INTENDED TO INFRINGE ON ANY KNOWN COPYRIGHT  
  
  
  
  
  
1 LE COLLIER D'OR  
  
1.1 A Bonanza Story  
  
1.1.1 By Kate Pitts  
  
  
  
  
  
The lake lay placid and still in the quiet of the night, a full moon reflecting in it's glass like surface. Beside the water, the two brothers dismounted from their horses and ground tied the animals, before heading over to a small boat, pulled up on the shore and half hidden in the vegetation. Pushing the small craft out into the lake they climbed aboard and set off, the elder of the two rowing strongly towards the deep water, the boat skimming almost silently through the threads of mist that hung just above the lake's surface. Both brothers were lost in thought, thinking back on the events of the past few days still hardly able to believe what had happened. It had all started so normally…  
  
"Just let me get a better hold of the thing." Hoss Cartwright exclaimed as he grasped the side of the big, heavy, wooden wardrobe that had stood in the corner of the guest bedroom for some fifteen or so years without being moved. "It's durn awkward. Don't know how you got it up here in the first place, Pa."  
  
"As I recall we had a number of neighbours help us out. Now Joe, Adam, take the other side of it." Ben instructed, then stood back to watch as his three sons manhandled the piece of furniture, pulling and tugging and pushing and shoving until they'd finally wrestled it into the middle of the room.  
  
"Now we can let you get started on painting that wall, little brother." Hoss said with a grin as he looked over to where the wardrobe had stood. "Though you'll need to clean up them cobwebs first, looks like some spider had a mighty nice home there."  
  
"Why me?" Joe complained bitterly, going over to take a closer look. "You two could at least lend a hand."  
  
"We drew the straws and you lost fair and square." Adam told him with a hint of amusement in his tone of voice. "Now, Hop Sing wants this room painted by Saturday before the guests arrive so you'd best get started."  
  
Joe didn't answer, bending instead to pick up something from the floor. "Hey, this must have been underneath that thing." He said, holding his find out to his father. "Is it yours, Pa?"  
  
Ben reached out to take the object from his youngest and exclaimed in surprise when he saw what it was. "I haven't seen this since I was with Marie in New Orleans." He said, examining the little box Joe had handed him. "I didn't even know she'd brought it to the Ponderosa."  
  
"It was Mama's?" Joe bent forward for a closer look. "What is it?"  
  
"An heirloom of some sort, I believe." Ben said turning it over in his hand. "Been in Jean's family for generations. It's an ugly little thing, don't you think?"  
  
"It's heavy too." Adam took the box from his father and looked closely at it, weighing it on his palm. "Probably made of lead, curious design on it as well, looks like writing but it's very small, difficult to make out." He undid the little clasp arrangement that held the lid of the box in place and opened it, giving a surprised exclamation as he saw what lay inside.  
  
"What is it?" Joe asked and in response his brother handed the box over to him. Inside it he saw, reclining on a scrap of green velvety material a tiny, oval shaped, golden locket on a long, fine chain. Reaching into the box he withdrew the necklace and held it so that the locket dangled from his fingers. "Did Mama wear this?" He asked Ben. "It's really beautiful."  
  
"No." Ben fingered the locket, examining the delicate whorls that were etched upon it. "I never saw her in this, I wonder why she kept it hidden?"  
  
"Perhaps she didn't." Adam suggested. "Perhaps she dropped it and it got kicked under the wardrobe or something."  
  
"Then surely she'd have had me looking for it." Ben said, puzzled. "It's obviously a very expensive piece."  
  
"Is there a picture inside?" Hoss asked, intrigued over the find. "Looks like the sorta necklace you put a picture in."  
  
Joe held the little locket in his right hand and inserted his left thumbnail into the edge, prizing it open. "It's not a picture." He said as the contents were revealed. "It looks like a piece of hair to me."  
  
"Hair?" Ben held out his hand, and Joe passed the locket over. His son was right, Ben saw, the locket contained a lock of what appeared to be hair, safely stored behind a piece of glass. It wasn't Marie's hair either, nor any of the Cartwrights, the hair was blond in colour, a very pale, white blond.  
  
"Do you want to keep it Pa?" Joe asked, with a look that plainly told Ben he wanted the locket himself. There were so few things of Marie's that Joe had to remind him of his mother who had died when he was only five; some thirteen years previously, and obviously this locket was, in his eyes, a link to her.  
  
"You can have it, Joe." Ben held the necklace out. "It's a little odd though, I wonder whose hair that is?"  
  
"Perhaps one of Marie's parents?" Adam suggested. "Or a friend, not Jean I suppose?"  
  
"No, it's not Jean's." Ben was certain of that; Marie's first husband had definitely not had white blond hair. "I suppose it's something we'll never know." He said and smiled at Joe. "Just take care of it, Joseph."  
  
"I will." Joe returned the locket to its box and slipped it into his pocket. "I'll treasure it."  
  
"I'm sure you will." Ben told him. "Now that's sorted I believe you have a wall to paint, young man and you." He turned to address his middle son. "Have a fence that needs fixing."  
  
"And I'd better get going if I'm to make the timber camp by this afternoon." Adam said as he started toward the door. "I'll see you all in a day or so. Have fun with the painting, Joe."  
  
"Oh sure, I'm just going to have a barrel of laughs." Joe muttered under his breath as his family left him to it.  
  
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Getting ready for bed that night Joe took the box from his pocket and put it down on the table beside his bed before slipping his shirt off and reaching for a nightshirt. Sliding beneath the sheets he was about to douse the lamp and settle down to sleep when the box once more drew his attention. Opening it up he drew out the little locket and let it hang from his fingers watching as the gold gleamed brightly in the lamplight. He wondered why his mother had kept the thing hidden for so long; it was far too pretty an object to have been discarded so there must have been another reason. He could imagine the necklace around his mother's neck and how beautiful it would have looked. It wasn't likely that he'd ever know why or how it had got beneath the wardrobe or whose hair it contained and with a sigh he placed the locket carefully on the table beside it's box, put out the light and settled down to sleep.  
  
Joe didn't know what woke him a few hours later but once awake he heard a sound that sent a prickle of alarm crawling along his spine and raised goose bumps on his arms, the soft sound of quiet breathing close beside his bed. Fearful of an intruder, and wishing he had his gun with him, he eased himself slowly round, straining his eyes to see in the darkness, but there was nobody there and the sound had stopped. With a sigh of relief he reached out to light the lamp telling himself that he must have imagined the breathing. By lamplight the room looked the same as usual and he chided himself for being so foolish. About to douse the lamp once again he noticed that the little locket had somehow slipped off the table and was lying on the floor; it's chain a twisted snake of gold against the rug. Picking it up he returned it to the table and as he did so he became aware of how cold the room had become. "Better close the window." He mumbled to himself, sliding out of bed and padding across the room, the floor chilly beneath his bare feet. Pulling aside the drapes he was surprised to find that the window was already tightly closed. Outside a bright moon shone and Joe was puzzled for a moment, surely just before when he had thought he heard breathing the room had been dark and yet the moonlight should have shone through the thin drapes and illuminated everything. He peered up at the sky, noticing that there were a few scattered clouds about and, deciding that one must have obscured the moon for a while, he went back to bed.  
  
"Hey, Joe, you better get a wriggle on, Pa's threatening to make you go without breakfast." Hoss' cheerful shout brought Joe awake what seemed like moments later and he opened bleary eyes to look up at his brother standing in the doorway.  
  
"I'm on my way." He yawned, raking a hand through his hair. "Tell Pa I'll be down in five minutes."  
  
Hoss nodded and retreated from the room leaving Joe to stretch sleepily before sitting up and throwing the bedcovers back, as he did so a glint of gold caught his eye and he stared in surprise at the little locket which was lying half under his pillow.  
  
"Now how in tarnation did that get there?" He asked himself curiously, reaching out to pick the necklace up. "I'm sure I left it on the table."  
  
"Joseph!" Hearing his father's irritated shout from downstairs Joe shrugged, replaced the necklace in the little box and hurried to get dressed.  
  
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Having spent most of the day painting the walls of the guest bedroom, and redoing any parts that didn't meet up to Hop Sing's scrutiny, Joe found himself unexpectedly weary that evening. He had been intending to take a trip into Virginia City and grab a few beers and perhaps a hand of poker at the Silver Dollar but instead settled for a cup of coffee and a couple of games of checkers with Hoss. Beating his brother for the second time Joe begged off a third contest, yawning widely. "Think I'll turn in. I'm a little tired tonight."  
  
"So early?" Ben looked up from his newspaper with a touch of anxiety in his expression. "It's only just gone nine. You feeling all right, son?"  
  
"I'm fine, Pa." Joe smiled at his father reassuringly. "I guess I'm just not used to working indoors, seems to have worn me out."  
  
"Did you get it finished?" Ben asked, noting that spots of paint still adorned Joe's hair in places even though he'd spent almost an hour soaking in the bath earlier in the evening.  
  
"Sure did." Joe told him with a hint of pride. "Looks real good too."  
  
"Fair puts the rest of the place to shame." Hoss put in, looking up from the checkers he was putting back in place. "P'raps you should get Joe to paint all the rooms, Pa."  
  
Shaking his head Joe gave a groan. "No chance. One room's enough for me, especially with Hop Sing supervising, he wanted it absolutely perfect."  
  
"I'd better take a look at this work of art later." Ben said with a chuckle, as Joe stood up and yawned again. "I'll see you in the morning then, Joseph."  
  
Upstairs the house was quiet, the sound of Hoss and his father talking together drifted up from the great room but the sound was just a muted mumble that barely disturbed the silence. Reaching his bedroom Joe hesitated, suddenly seized by an odd reluctance to enter the room. He frowned, wondering what was bothering him, his room was somewhere he felt more at home in than anywhere and pushing the feeling aside he opened the door. Just for an instant, in the darkness of the bedroom he thought he saw something, no more than a shape, a luminous white form hovering beside his bed but as he blinked it was there no more. He guessed that it must have been a trick of the light or perhaps his eyes playing him up, he was tired after all, but he was quick to reach for the matches and set the lamp burning flooding the room with it's warm glow and pushing the shadows aside.  
  
Yawning, he quickly stripped off his clothes and poured a little water in the basin to wash. Drying off he reached for his nightshirt and froze. On his pillow, glinting in the light, lay the little necklace, open to reveal the lock of white-blond hair.  
  
"What the heck…" Picking it up, Joe snapped it shut and stared down at it uneasily. He just knew that he'd left the necklace in its box this morning so how could it have got onto his pillow? Surely Hop Sing wouldn't have moved it? The little housekeeper never touched Joe's personal possessions, and his brothers hadn't been in here, he was sure. Wondering if perhaps his father had taken a look at it, Joe pulled on his nightshirt. He almost headed downstairs again to ask if Ben had moved the locket but decided against it trying to ignore an uneasy feeling that the answer would be no. Putting the necklace down beside it's box, Joe got slowly into bed. He felt curiously hesitant as he reached to douse the lamp and considered for a moment leaving it burning. Almost defiantly, he eventually turned it off, telling himself that there was nothing in the room to be nervous about, he was a grown man after all, not a child who was frightened of the dark. 'So why?' He asked himself, moments later as he got out of bed and opened the drapes to let the bright moonlight pour into the room. 'Am I doing this?'  
  
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As the rest of the household retired to bed and the house grew quiet Joe slept deeply, unaware of the presence beside his bed. The luminous white shape that he had glimpsed before, and that had fled from view as the light entered the dark room, now coalesced and stood watching him as he slept. It had the form of a woman, a voluptuous youthful being with white-blond hair that cascaded almost to her slim waist.  
  
'He is very young' Her thoughts were spoken aloud, a thread of sound in the silent room. 'And very strong' A small hand reached out to lightly stroke Joe's cheek and then quickly withdrew as, though he didn't wake, the young man moved away from the icy coldness of her touch. 'He must be her son' Gliding noiselessly around the bed to where she could get a better look she examined his face. 'He is very like her, she was strong as well and I could have used that strength if only she hadn't seen me. Once that happened she knew me for what I am…I must be careful, he mustn't trap me as his mother did. I need his strength, so that I may live again. He will become weak as I grow stronger.' Her eyes, the only feature visible in the oval of what should have been her face, glowed with triumph. 'He will die so I may live…'  
  
Outside, Adam yawned wearily as he put Sport in his stall and left the barn. He had hoped to get home before nightfall but a thrown shoe had meant that horse and rider had been forced to take it slowly. The house was in darkness and Adam sighed, he was hungry and it would have been nice if Hop Sing were around to rustle up some food. Still, he would just have to fend for himself and see what he could find in the kitchen. Closing the barn door he happened to glance up at Joe's room and stopped short in shock. The drapes were open and the lamp seemed to be alight for there was a glow of light in the room which meant that Adam could quite clearly see a young woman in a clinging white dress standing close to the window, her back to him, tumbled blond hair cascading down over her shoulders.  
  
"What the…" He shook his head in amazed disbelief. Surely Joe hadn't got the nerve to sneak some girl into the Ponderosa? Sure looked that way and if his father ever found out he'd have the boy's hide. As he watched, the woman moved away and Adam frowned, wondering if he ought to do something about the situation.  
  
In Joe's room the woman concentrated on the figure in the bed, feeling the strength flow from the young man as he slept. She allowed her memories to drift back, to New Orleans, and to this boy's mother. How curious Marie had been to see inside the box that her young husband kept hidden away in a drawer. How angry he had been to find her wearing the locket when he returned home one evening. 'It's a family heirloom, Marie.' He had told her angrily. 'And it's an evil thing, it must be kept in the lead box, never wear it!' She had laughed at his warning, there was no such thing as evil, she had told him and the next time he was away she had opened the box again, opened the locket. 'If only she hadn't seen me.' The woman sighed, her eyes fixed on the necklace as it lay on Joe's pillow, just touching his face. 'When she realized that her husband was right she trapped me again, just as I thought I was free. But not this time…nothing must go wrong this time.' She tensed as muted footsteps on the landing outside alerted her to the fact that someone was still awake in the house and suddenly, she was gone.  
  
Adam paused outside his brother's door, fingers on the handle. But the fear that a confrontation with Joe might wake his father stilled his hand. "Best talk to him tomorrow." He whispered to himself softly and continued on to his room.  
  
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When Joe joined his family at the breakfast table the following morning his appearance caused his father to look at him with some concern. "Are you feeling all right, son?" He asked, worried at the sight of Joe's wan complexion and the dark circles under his eyes.  
  
"I'm fine." Joe poured coffee for himself. "Just a little tired." He looked up as he spoke and was puzzled to see his oldest brother shoot a knowing look in his direction.  
  
"Perhaps it might be best if you stayed home today." Ben said, unconvinced by Joe's assertion. "Go on back to bed for a while."  
  
"Don't worry, Pa. I'm all right, honestly." Joe tried a reassuring smile at his father. "Once I get out in the fresh air I'll soon wake up."  
  
"Well, if you're sure…" Ben accepted defeat but couldn't help watching anxiously as Joe pushed his breakfast around the plate, hardly eating a thing, before draining his coffee and leaving the table.  
  
"I'll keep an eye on him today." Hoss said, seeing the worry on his father's face as the door closed behind his younger brother. "If he don't perk up any I'll send him on home."  
  
"He's just tired, like he said." Adam finished his breakfast and stood up. "He'll be fine. I've got a few chores to finish up in the barn, won't take long and then we can get started on that paperwork, Pa."  
  
Ben nodded distractedly and Adam followed Joe out to the barn. He found his youngest brother standing beside Cochise, apparently lost in thought, the horse's bridle dangling from his fingers.  
  
"I want a word with you!" Joe started in surprise at Adam's angry voice, he hadn't heard him come into the barn.  
  
"I'm sorry if I worried Pa." Joe apologized quickly, thinking that was why Adam was annoyed. "It's nothing, honestly, I'll be fine once I get to work."  
  
"I oh just bet you're tired." Adam said scathingly, pulling Joe around to face him. "You got some nerve, kid, sneaking a woman into the house like that."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Joe looked at his brother as though he'd taken leave of his senses. "What woman?"  
  
"There's no point denying it." Adam told him scornfully. "I saw her with my own eyes up in your room last night. You had the drapes open and I saw her standing there."  
  
Joe stared at his brother in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?" He asked. "The drapes were open but there was nobody in my room but me. You really think I'd bring some woman here? Pa would kill me."  
  
"I saw her." Adam repeated, his tone dangerously quiet. "I'm on to you, Joe, and it just better not happen again, or I go to Pa."  
  
"There was nobody there!" Joe pushed his brother away, his anger rising. "You're insane if you think…"  
  
"Some problem, fellers?" Hoss' question interrupted what Joe had been about to say and he turned away with a mumbled. "Nope, no problem."  
  
"Just something between Joe and I." Adam said, clapping Hoss on the shoulder. "It'll keep."  
  
Hefting Cochise's saddle up on to the horse's back Joe sent his brother an angry glare, though in truth he was more puzzled than angry, having no idea at all what his brother was talking about. The weight of the saddle made him realize how weak he was feeling this morning and as he tightened the girth and prepared to mount up his thoughts returned to what had been nagging at him ever since he'd got up, just how did the gold necklace end up on his pillow again?  
  
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Finishing up a pile of paperwork that afternoon Adam tossed his pen down with a sigh. He was alone in the house, Ben had some business in Virginia City and Hop Sing had accompanied him, intending to pick up some supplies. Flexing his fingers, which ached from hours of writing, Adam got up from his father's desk and headed for the kitchen where a pot of coffee was keeping warm on the stove. He poured himself a cup and returned to the great room intending to sit down and relax for a while, but he'd no sooner settled down in the blue armchair beside the hearth than his thoughts turned to his youngest brother and the way Joe had blatantly lied to him that morning. It was unlike Joe to out and out lie that way, he would have expected the boy to be embarrassed at being caught out, but to have owned up to his indiscretions, though no doubt letting Adam know that it was none of his business.  
  
A sudden noise from upstairs broke into his thoughts, startling him. It was a thump, as though something had fallen to the floor. Putting his coffee aside, Adam headed upstairs to investigate. Nothing seemed out of place in the upstairs hallway or in his room. A quick glance in his father's and Hoss' room revealed nothing untoward and he moved along to Joe's bedroom.  
  
Opening the door Adam was met by a blast of frigid air and he shivered as he stood on the threshold, wondering why it was so cold in the room. Glancing across he saw the explanation, the window was partially open and he went to close it, a little surprised at how icy the room felt when it was such a mild day outside. Turning from the window, his eye was caught by the little lead box that had held the locket they had found. It lay on the floor beside Joe's bed and he wondered if that had been the source of the noise he heard, possibly it had been on the edge of the bed and fallen. Picking it up he turned it over in his hand, taking a slightly closer look than he had before. He had been right, he saw, as he held the box closer to window and the daylight, it was writing on the top. Small, but he could just make out a few words. It wasn't English, he could identify a bit of French and the rest appeared to be Latin. Spotting the locket on Joe's bedside table he was about to put the box down beside it when he changed his mind. Instead he took it along the corridor to his own room where he fetched paper and a pencil and, pulling a Latin dictionary that he had used at college from his bookshelf, he settled down to translate what was inscribed in the lead.  
  
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It was a very thoughtful Adam Cartwright that replaced the little lead box in Joe's room a while later, just before his father and Hop Sing arrived home. He could hardly believe the meaning of the words he had deciphered and yet, it explained Joe's vehement denial of having a woman at the ranch, and the icy coldness that seemed to linger in his room.  
  
Supper that evening was a quiet affair, Joe had arrived home looking no better than when he left and, despite his assurances that he was feeling fine, both Ben and Hoss watched him worriedly throughout the meal.  
  
Joe's appearance lent even more credence to what Adam had discovered that afternoon and he ate his supper thoughtfully, wondering what he should do. The logical part of Adam's mind told him that what he suspected couldn't be true, there were no such things, but he had seen with his own eyes the woman in Joe's room and he couldn't just dismiss it. He considered talking to his father about it but it sounded so nonsensical that he could hardly expect Ben to believe it, he could hardly believe it himself. Watching as Joe struggled with his meal, obviously exhausted, he debated sharing his discovery with his brother, but Joe hadn't seen the woman and, after their argument this morning, was hardly likely to listen to him anyway.  
  
"Don't you think you should go on up to bed, son, you look worn out." Ben suggested anxiously as Joe got up from the table to go and slump down on the couch, leaning back and closing his eyes wearily. "And I think a visit to Doctor Martin might be a good idea if you're no better tomorrow."  
  
"Pa, I'm fine." Anger tinged Joe's tone as he made a visible effort to sit up straight. "Just a hard day's work that's all."  
  
"Weren't no harder than usual." Hoss said, coming to sit beside his younger brother. "Perhaps Pa's right, Joe, couldn't hurt to see the Doc."  
  
"I said I'm fine!" Joe reached for the checkers board, changing the subject. "How about a game or two, Hoss?"  
  
As the evening went on, Adam sat ostensibly reading while his thoughts were elsewhere. Joe, he noticed, seemed very reluctant to give in and go to bed though weariness was apparent on the young man's face and he yawned widely from time to time. At last, after Hoss had to nudge him awake to make a move in the game he gave in and bidding his father and brothers goodnight went upstairs.  
  
By midnight both Ben and Hoss had also turned in and Adam was left alone in the great room. Pulling from his pocket the piece of paper he had used to translate the inscription on the box he read over what he had written and came to a decision. Far fetched it may be but he had to check it out. Feeling slightly foolish he fetched two silver knives from the kitchen drawer before dousing the lamps and heading upstairs. On the landing he stood uncertainly outside his brothers room for a while, listening to the silence, before getting a blanket from his own room, wrapping himself in it and settling himself down beside Joe's door to wait.  
  
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Waking with a start, Adam wondered for a moment where he was. Remembering, he stretched and yawned, realizing that he must have fallen asleep. He was just considering whether he should abandon this foolishness and go to bed when he heard something from inside Joe's room. The sound was quiet and he had to strain to hear but what he made out raised the hairs on the back of his neck. It was the sound of a woman softly singing, a pretty, silvery voice crooning a French lullaby.  
  
Carefully divesting himself of the blanket Adam stood up noiselessly and cautiously reached for the door handle, turning it painstakingly slowly and pushing the door open.  
  
He almost gasped as he saw who or what stood beside his brother's bed. It's form was that of a woman and he could see it quite clearly even in the dark room for it had a strange glow around it, a kind of aura of light. Chills shot down Adam's back as he saw her more clearly, tumbled white blonde hair framed her face and tumbled over her generous breasts but where the features of her face should have been was blank, as though someone had wiped it clean, just her eyes were visible and they held a look that made Adam shiver, a look of pure evil mingled with a hint of triumph as she watched Joe sleep.  
  
Whether the door made a noise as it opened or whether it was the movement that drew the apparitions attention Adam didn't know but slowly she lifted her head and gazed directly at him. Cold swept over him as she moved towards him, moving fluidly over the floor. Adam stood his ground, lifting the knives in front of him and holding them in the shape of a cross. She recoiled as she saw it and anger flashed in her eyes. 'You will not stop me.' Adam could hear the words though there was no mouth to speak them. 'I am almost finished here and I won't let you stop me.' Drifting backwards to the bed she watched his reaction. 'I am strong now, I have his strength. He will die and I will live.'  
  
"Joe!" Adam called his brother's name urgently as he advanced on her. "Wake up, Joe."  
  
'No!' The voice was agonized, as Joe stirred at the sound of his brother's voice. 'No, don't…'  
  
Joe's eyes flickered open, peering blearily around before widening in fear at the sight he saw before him.  
  
"The necklace, Joe." Adam instructed him urgently as, keeping the makeshift cross in front of him, he moved closer. "Put it in the box, quickly."  
  
Hearing the command in his brother's voice, Joe struggled to obey though he wasn't sure if what was happening and he felt as though all his strength had drained out of him. He saw, with a start of surprise, that the necklace was on his pillow and picked it up, reaching out for the box.  
  
'No!' The voice was louder now and as Adam watched in horror the lamp on Joe's bedside table suddenly leapt in the air and headed straight for him.  
  
As Adam jumped aside, Joe finally grasped the lead box and, opening it, thrust the necklace inside and closed the lid, flicking the catch. Immediately the apparition was gone and the lamp crashed harmlessly to the floor.  
  
As the two brothers stared at each other in dismay, neither quite able to believe what had happened, the bedroom door was thrust wide and Ben and Hoss rushed into the room.  
  
"What's happening?" Ben asked, staring bewilderedly around the room. "What was that crash?"  
  
"Yea, I heard shoutin' and glass breakin'." Hoss held a lamp in his hand and it's light fell on the shattered fragments of glass by Adam's feet, explaining the crash. "What's goin' on?"  
  
"It's nothing." Holding the knives out of sight, Adam spoke up quickly, before Joe could say anything. "I heard Joe having a bad dream and came to see if he was okay. I must have startled him awake or something and he threw the lamp at me. Guess he was still half asleep and thought I was an intruder."  
  
Joe nodded slowly as Ben and Hoss turned toward him, thankful that his eldest brother had come up with a feasible explanation. "Adam's right, Pa." He told his father as Ben came to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry about the lamp."  
  
"That's all right." Ben regarded his son with a worried frown. "You look very pale, Joseph, what was this dream about?"  
  
"I don't really remember the dream, Pa." Joe looked down at the bedcovers, not wanting to meet his father's gaze. "But I'm okay now, just need to get back to sleep."  
  
"I'll clear up the glass." Adam offered, as Ben stood up. "You and Hoss get on back to bed."  
  
"All right." Ben cast a last look back at Joe from the doorway as he headed back to his room. "Sleep well."  
  
"You'll need this." Hoss handed his lamp to Adam and followed his father, pulling the door closed behind him as he went.  
  
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For a while after Ben and Hoss had left the room neither of the two brothers said anything. Fetching the wastebasket from where it stood by Joe's dresser Adam put the lamp on the floor and knelt to pick up the pieces of glass.  
  
Sitting in bed, shaken by what he had witnessed, Joe turned the little box over in his hand and looked at it. "What was that?" He whispered at last, his voice quivering just a little.  
  
"It's name was Eloise Champenois." Adam told him, getting up and coming to sit on the bed. "The owner, I believe, of the piece of hair in that locket."  
  
"But…" Joe looked down at the box then up at his brother. "I don't understand…was it a ghost or…"  
  
"I had a closer look at that box yesterday." Adam said, taking the container from his brother and showing him what he's found. "This writing on the top, if you look real close you can just make out her name and that it says Morte 1750."  
  
"Dead…" Joe squinted down at the writing. "That's what it means doesn't it?"  
  
Adam nodded. "Most of the rest is in Latin." He said, fingering the inscription. "Took me a while to figure it out, Latin isn't something I know much of, but basically it's a curse."  
  
"A curse!" Joe echoed, wide eyed. "What does it say?"  
  
"That whoever wears the locket shall die that Eloise might live again."  
  
Joe shivered, remembering the times he had woken to find the locket right beside him despite having left it on the table by his bed. "I didn't actually wear it." He said softly.  
  
"She…it was still trying to kill you." Adam put the box down and stood up abruptly, going to look out of the window at the night sky. "She told me that, said she had your strength and that you would die."  
  
"Told you?" Joe protested faintly. "But Adam I saw that thing, it had no…"  
  
"Mouth." Adam finished the sentence, turning to look at his brother. "I know that but somehow I could hear her voice quite clearly."  
  
"Do you think Mama knew about this?" Joe asked, pulling back the blankets and getting out of bed. "I mean, where did she get it from?"  
  
"I have no idea." Adam told him. "And I don't suppose we'll ever know where it came from but I think she must have known about Eloise. That must be why she hid the locket."  
  
"So what do you think we should do?"  
  
Adam had no doubt of the answer to that. "Get rid of it." He said quickly. "Somewhere where no one will ever find it again."  
  
"But Pa told me to take care of it." Joe said softly, though there was no real protest in his voice.  
  
"I think I can get a copy made up in San Francisco." Adam told him, picking up the box and handing it to his brother. "Good enough to fool Pa, anyway. Come on, Joe. If you feel well enough we'll get rid of Eloise right now."  
  
Joe hesitated a moment but the memory of what he had awoken to that night was still only too vivid in his mind. With a nod at Adam, he reached for his clothes.  
  
  
  
The gentle slap of the water on the side of the boat as it drifted gently was the only sound that broke the stillness of this hour before the dawn. Adam sat quietly, oars held still in his hands, watching Joe as his young brother pulled the box from his pocket. Holding it over the side Joe let it slip from his fingers to vanish beneath the surface, down into the inky depths of the lake, never to be seen again…probably!  
  
  
  
  
  
THE END…or is it?  
  
© Kathleen Pitts 


End file.
